Battle of El Uvero

Women in the Revolutionary Directorate transported messages, sheltered activists and sustained clandestine work around the Havana action.

The radio action aimed to broadcast the fall of Batista and call the population into the streets while the palace assault proceeded.

The assault exposed the willingness of urban revolutionaries to challenge the dictatorship at its centre, despite severe losses.

Police located and killed four Revolutionary Directorate survivors in a Havana apartment, deepening anger against Batista’s security forces.

Information provided to Batista’s police led them to four student revolutionaries hiding in Havana.

Medical work after the battle helped establish the Rebel Army’s claim to different rules of conduct from Batista’s forces.

The manifesto called for Batista’s removal, a provisional government, civil liberties and elections, seeking a broad opposition alliance.

The opposition platform proposed civil liberties and elections after Batista’s departure, reflecting the broad democratic aims of the coalition at this stage.

Santiago police killed the leading organizer of the urban underground. His death provoked mass mourning and protest.

Large crowds joined the funeral procession despite repression, turning mourning into a public demonstration against the dictatorship.